Serving Local Farmers Markets And Families
How We Got Here
OUR STORY
As a little girl I remember being the “official taste tester” for my dad’s pesto sauce. Every summer we would have a garden full of bushy basil plants and our kitchen always smelt like cheesy garlic. I even remember the specific gurgling noise the blender would make when my dad made his sauce perfectly – that was my cue to run to the kitchen and give my (professional) opinion on the flavor.
Due to his detectible recipe and my acute sense of taste it wasn’t long before friends and family started asking him for batches of pesto; and just like that the nickname “Pesto Joe” was created.
Fast forwarding to today I am a two-time graduate of Seton Hall with a background in communications, business, and nonprofit management. A unique blend of business with a social impact in mind. During my last year as a graduate student my dad unexpectedly passed away. My life froze and I felt stuck. That was until I opened the freezer for dinner and found one of my dad’s batches of pesto. A bitter sweet moment of memories my dad and I shared together, a moment in time that felt expired, Pesto Joe was no more.
That was until I heard about a startup business program Seton Hall was offering in the summer of 2022. This was my ticket to bringing Pesto Joe back to life and into an operating business (Never say never!). I quickly wrote a business plan, submitted, and got accepted! I spent six weeks doing market research and hashing out my business plan and was awarded seed funding.
December 2022 Pesto Joe LLC was formed and is an official operating business! From a father’s heart to a daughter’s passion Pesto Joe will live on for generations to come. Not only to support my future family and keep a piece of my dad with me, but also as a way to give back and pay tribute to my dad’s large heart. He always carried a smile on his face, so our motto is “Smile Wherever You Go.”
